


Process

by RiverKaze



Series: After Effects of a Revolution [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Clueless Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Has PTSD, Crimes & Criminals, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Twins, Eventual Fluff, Flashbacks, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Hurt Gavin Reed, M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, Mystery Stories, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Religious Cults, Sad Hank Anderson, Swearing, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-07-29 12:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16263881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverKaze/pseuds/RiverKaze
Summary: Connor was ... back, but not in the way Gavin and Hank had hoped. However, with an ongoing investigation Hank and Gavin need all the help they can get.Connor can't remember anything though and that leaves him with questions: Why does Gavin avoid him so much? Why is it that the thought of coffee makes his chest ache? Why is Hank so nice to him, even though he looks so sad when Connor can't remember something?What will it take, exactly, for Connor to get his memories back?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3 of After Effects of a Revolution.  
> I'd suggest reading parts one and two first, so that this part is easier to understand.  
> Enjoy XD

It was dark when he opened his eyes, he felt out of place and confused, what had he been doing prior to waking up? His systems were sending him a low-level warning but didn't inform him of what the warning was for. He checked his system status to ensure that the warning wasn’t due to a malfunctioning biocomponents, but his check confirmed that everything was in working order. 

So, it wasn’t an error of his biocomponents that was sending him a warning, but something was. He checked all his systems and found that the only anomaly his inability to connect with CyberLife. It was odd, he wasn’t completely sure why he should have been able to but the knowledge that he couldn’t made something in his chest tighten. He clenched a fist into his shirt over his chest and took in his surroundings.

He appeared to be in an old abandoned parking garage, some of the walls were covered with graffiti and there were piles of rubbish that lined the floor by the walls. Where he stood, in the middle of the empty garage, there was nothing. It was oddly clean all but a metre from the walls.

What had caused him to go into this building in particular? What had he been doing before waking up? Why was it that he was unable to remember these details?

As he scanned the area for anything that could give him a clue as to why he was in an abandoned parking garage, he brought up his list of objectives. He had the feeling that it was usually full of tasks that he needed to complete but now it was currently blank. It made no real sense to him why it felt off, why he had an aversion to it being empty, so he added a new task to unoccupied list. 

**Contact CyberLife**

As he went to connect to the CyberLife servers, he noticed that he was unable to. It was unclear to him as to what would cause him to be incapable of connecting. It should have been a simple thing for him to do. Or he thought it should have been simple.

 _It must be a fault in my programming,_ he thought as he began to look for an exit to the building. He could see a very faint sliver of light coming from one of the roller doors of the garage and headed over to investigate. He found that it was broken in a way that had it jammed where it was but as he peered through the gap he was able to see outside. So, this was the way out, now he only needed to find another route. Further along the wall he spotted roller door that was in better condition and when he tried to operate it, he found that it worked with barely a noise. He stored that information in his memory banks and began to walk. It only took a few minutes of walking before he could see the building he needed. 

CyberLife Tower stood tall and bright, a beacon of light that he was able to follow with ease. It took him the better part of two hours to arrive at the tower. The guards let him in immediately and he headed to the reception to inform them of his faulty programming.

"How may I help you, sir?" The android at the desk asked.

"I am a RK800 Model and – " He began but was cut off by the receptionist.

"Ah, yes you'd want to speak to Markus, huh?" The android said not allowing him to answer as she immediately informed Markus that he was waiting at the reception desk. "Just sit down over there and he will be down shortly."

With that said the receptionist went back to whatever she had been doing beforehand, without anything better to do he walked over to where she had indicated and sat on one of the chairs to wait for this 'Markus' character to arrive.

It wasn't long before he could hear someone shouting, 'Connor' down the hall. He glanced up when he heard footsteps headed his way. The man that walked towards him had a tanned complexion, very short hair, and a stubbled beard. 

"Connor, hey!" The man said, extending his hand to him. He looked at it then up at the man that had just arrived. He grabbed the hand as he scanned the man's face for more information on him.

 **RK200, Markus**  
Deviant leader // CEO of CyberLife Tower

An image, a memory, flooded him as he stared at the android in front of him, hands still gripped together. One eye green, one eye blue, a speech, a fight, a revol… then it stopped, just as abruptly as it had come. He continued to stare at the android, curiously. The other seemed to be assessing him in some way but he wasn’t sure what.

"Connor?" _Markus said that name again, it must be my name_ , he thought as Markus continued, "Why are you here so early?"

"I have come to report myself as defective," He replied simply as another man came up from behind Markus, who didn’t seem fazed. 

"Ah, so they removed your memory, did they," The new man said before taking out his phone, "I'll call my brother, tell him that Connor's here. Markus, why don't you inform Connor on what's been going on."

With that the man left, he had been so surprised and confused that he hadn't had time to scan the man's face. He turned to Markus and the android let out a tired sounding sigh. Markus began to walk away, gesturing Connor to follow him. Connor really couldn’t do anything but follow, with the knowledge that his memories were gone what else was he going to do.

Ten minutes in and Connor was frustrated. Apparently, he had been a deviant hunter before turning deviant himself, there had been a revolution, he was living with someone named Hank Anderson and his dog Sumo, he worked at the DPD, and that he was a prototype designed to help law enforcement. 

The worse part was that he couldn’t remember any of these things, or not completely anyway. It was like listening to the life of another person and not his own. He felt disconnected to the events that Markus described, Markus was obviously not the best person to ask when it came to the event that had happened in his life.

At least the deviancy explained his odd feelings and the sense memory he had been experiencing the longer he had been awake. He might not remember much but apparently his emotions did. Not that that helped, he couldn’t yet understand why he was experiencing certain emotions, especially during Markus' retelling of his life.

It wasn’t long after Markus finished his brief retelling that the man from before entered the room, Connor now knew that his name was Elijah Kamski, creator of CyberLife. Kamski raised a questioning brow at Markus and then spoke, "They're on the way over. Our boy here remember anything?"

Markus only shook his head and moved out of the room, Kamski sighed as he turned to leave the room again, "Well, isn’t this going to be fun." He said sarcastically, gesturing Connor to follow them.

They were stood outside the building when the other two men arrived, one falling out of the car before it had even stopped and racing over. Kamski moved to the man that had raced out the car, apparently trying to stop him, Connor couldn’t hear their words and, in the end, Kamski wasn’t successful in stopping him.

"Fuck, I missed you," The man said as he rushed to Connor, grabbing and pulling him into a tight hug. Connor was stood stock still, he was confused and shocked as to why an unknown man would hug him. The man appeared to know him, judging by the sad look in his watery eyes and the hug. The man was looking at him then, pulling back from his hug to seemingly assess Connor in some way. It gave Connor the opportunity to scan the man's face through his facial recognition programme, allowing him to be on a more even stance with the man.

 **DT. Reed, Gavin**  
Born: 10/07/2002 // Police Detective  
Criminal record: None

With that done he thought he should reintroduce himself to the detective, "Hello, my name is Connor."

"Fucking hell. I know that, dipshit," The detective sighed, "What the fuck, Connor?"

"I am unsure of what you mean, Detective Reed," Connor replied. And he really didn't understand, what did the detective want from him? What did he mean? What were they to each other? Markus hadn't said anything about the detective when he was recalling Connor's past, so what had happened that Markus didn't know about enough to mention.

Connor watched in a stunned silence as the detective's face slowly crumpled into a look of agony. Markus moved up behind the detective and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "Whoever had him, they reset his memories. He… he doesn't remember anything…sorry."

As Markus finished the detective collapsed onto the floor, Connor made an aborted move towards him but stopped himself. Whatever was affecting the detective was clearly due to Connor's situation and Connor didn't want to add to the obvious pain the detective was in. So, he stood silently, chest aching as he watched the detective breakdown before him. The sad laugh that escaped the detectives throat made the ache in his chest grow, but he knew, somehow, that his presence, in that moment, would do more harm than good.

He watched as the man that had been stopped by Kamski drew closer to the detective. The older man pulled him up to his feet and headed them both back to their car. Only once the man had the detective in the car did he come back. 

"It's good to see you safe, Connor," the man said with a sad smile on his face, "even if you don't remember anything."

"I am sorry about that," Connor replied, because it was true. He was sorry for getting himself in this mess, for causing pain to these men, for not remembering them. He scanned the man's face, to know who it was he was talking to.

 **LT. ANDERSON, Hank**  
Born: 09/06/1985 // Police Lieutenant  
Criminal record: None

"Don't be sorry, Connor, ain't your fault." The lieutenant said firmly. "We'll catch the bastards who did this."

"You should bring Connor back with you." Kamski stated, a grin on his face. The lieutenant's face fell at the suggestion, turning to look towards the car then back to glare at Kamski, "Hey, a familiar place might help bring his memories back, if he has a strong enough attachment to them."

He grumbled under his breath but agreed in the end, gesturing Connor towards the car, "Go and get in, I'll be over in a minute."

Connor nodded as he headed to the car, he didn't really want to be in a confined space with the detective, but he had no other choice. He opened the back door and the detective looked at him in the mirror, he had wiped the tears from his face and though his eyes were still red the expression on his face was more blank then anything Connor had seen so far.

"I am truly sorry for all of this, Detective," Connor said as he buckled himself into the car. He looked down at his hands not wanting to meet the detective's eyes for some reason.

"Ain-ain't your fault," The detective stuttered, his voice still thick with sadness which caused Connor to flinch, "I'll – I'll deal," he said then whispered, most likely to himself then to Connor, "Somehow."

Connor's sense of guilt was almost crushing him, but there was nothing he could do about it. They waited in silence for Hank to get back to the car and once back the car remained silent as they drove away from CyberLife tower. To where, Connor wasn’t sure, though he thought it must have been somewhere he'd known before his memory was stolen.


	2. Chapter 2

Connor was silent as he walked up to the door of Lieutenant Anderson's house, there was something about it felt peculiarly familiar, but he wasn’t able to identify what was causing the notion exactly. The two men walked on ahead, opening up the door and going inside immediately. However, Connor stopped in front of the door, eyes observing his surroundings. His gaze lingered on the doorbell to his right and couldn’t prevent himself from pressing down. 

The silence that had come over them all was abruptly overwhelmed by the loud ringing of the doorbell. The sound caused both the Lieutenant and Detective to jump in surprise. Connor didn’t notice them though, his mind was stuck on the sound, its hauntingly familiar tone. That sound held one of Connor's memories about the house, one Connor could feel sitting on the edge of his consciousness. It was a strangely urgent sound, it brought a quick wave of panic to his systems, but Connor couldn’t remember anything but those sensations. 

A hand fell on his arm and pulled his fingers away from the button, it brought Connor out of his thoughts. The Lieutenant was watching him with a look Connor wasn’t able to interpret. He pulled at Connor's arm away, drawing him into the house and through the doorway, closing the door behind them both.

Once inside the Lieutenant let go of Connor's arm and went to the kitchen. Connor found that he was unsure of what he was expected to do after the Lieutenant left. Connor knew that he was a deviant, that he had a free will and a consciousness, but he felt it would be inappropriate of him to do whatever he wanted without enquiring about it first. He was, to a certain extent, a guest in this house.

He watched as the Detective sat heavily in one of the kitchen chairs and took a swig of the alcohol that had been siting to his left on the table. He continued to take larger and larger gulps of the liquor until the Lieutenant took the bottle from his hands, he glared at the Lieutenant before laying his head down on the kitchen table.

"Just let me have it, Hank." The detective grumbled into the table.

"If I can't have it, you can't either." The Lieutenant said as he placed the bottle high up in a cabinet cupboard. "Now, I'm gonna call Fowler, then I'm going to bed. Connor why don-"

Connor moved to stand beside the Lieutenant, but he didn’t speak further, it took Connor a second to realise that the Lieutenant might have been asking him to do something he had usually done before he lost his memories. The realisation made Connor's stomach clench in a horrible feeling of dejection. If he'd had his memories the Lieutenant wouldn't have had to stop midsentence, wouldn't have had that pained look on his face that he was, unsuccessfully, trying to hide from Connor.

"Gavin," The Lieutenant asked instead, "Mind showing the kid his room?"

The Detective grunted an affirmative and waited for the Lieutenant to leave the room before looking up at Connor for a brief second. Long enough that Connor saw his expression as it went from blank to upset before he turned away. Connor could do nothing but watch as the Detective slowly got to his feet and took a deep breath.

"Again, I am sorry about this, Detective," Connor said. His chest was aching, but it wasn’t only in sympathy, there was something else he was missing. He felt as if there was something attempting to break inside his chest, increasing the ache that had been a constant presence around the Detective.

Another sad laugh erupted from the Detective's throat as he stared down, bracing him hands on the table to keep himself upright. "Gavin," he said quietly, "call me Gavin," then almost inaudibly as if to himself and not to Connor, though he still heard it, "Please."

Connor couldn’t help but try and swallow the lump that had seemingly forming in his throat, he knew logically there was nothing there, but it didn't stop the almost human reaction. The Detect- Gavin sounded horrible, and Connor had an odd but very strong impulse to hug him, to wish away the man's pain. He couldn't though, he… he didn't really know the Det-Gavin and was uncertain of what reaction it would trigger, and that frustrated him immensely.

"Alright, Gavin." Connor replied with a slight smile on his face, he could only hope it was lift Gavin's spirits, if only by a fraction. 

Connor was quite surprised when Gavin returned the smile with a small one of his own, although he still had a pained look in his eyes. Gavin took another deep breath before he made his way down the hall, gesturing for Connor to follow. The last door down the hallway had a sign, his name was written across it. Though it was obviously not his own handwriting, it also had a small drawing of a dog on the nameplate too. Connor touched the plate, tracing over the lettering and cartoon dog. It was another thing that felt familiar, but he couldn't yet place it.

He turned to Gavin, mouth open to ask about the plate when he was interrupted by Gavin speaking first, "Well, I'll leave you to it then."

Connor stared at the door for a few more seconds before turning back to Gavin, he didn't know what to say to make it easier on the man, so Connor only nodded then headed into the room. The room was simple, a bed, a desk, a side table, it was the little things that caught Connor's eye though. There were many similar little cartoon drawings hanging up on the walls, a photo of Connor and Gavin sat on the bedside table, and what appeared to be a work tablet lay on the centre of the desk. 

He ignored the tablet to first inspect the pictures on the walls, there were sixteen of them in total. Some of them looked to be quick doodles on post-it notes, while others had much more detail to them, similar to the one on his nameplate. As he glanced at each of them in turn he came across one that caught his attention in particular. He pulled it off the wall, looking at it closer, his artificial breath catching in his throat. 

The drawing was simple, a drawing of what appeared to be a cartoon version of Gavin kissing a cartoon Connor's cheek with the words 'luv ya dipshit' below. Connor's chest ached as a distorted image flashed before him. 

The grainy image of Gavin, standing in what appeared to be a police department and smirking over a paper cup, flooded into his mind. He could see that Gavin's mouth was moving as he continued to smirk at Connor but there was no sound, the memory still too distorted to remember properly. 

It disappeared quickly, the memory, however, was not intact enough for Connor to hold on to it. Connor put the picture back onto the wall, feeling like he had lost something precious to him as he turned away from the memory. His head was throbbing, his processors trying to work overtime to remember, he needed to stop forcing it, forcing himself to remember something, anything, just one more little thing. Logically he knew he wouldn’t be able to remember everything right away, though he did try, but he knew now that it would be essential that he take his time recalling his lost memories so as not to damage his chances. Of what he knew from Markus and what he'd remembered so far, he didn't want to lose the life he'd had before.

He intended to go and ask Gavin about what they had been before his memory was stole but as he reached for the door handle he heard another door in the house slam closed. From what Connor could decipher it had to have been the front door, which indicated that Gavin had left. Connor let his arm drop from reaching for the door handle, resting his head on the closed door. He should have said something to Gavin, not sorry but maybe goodbye, goodnight, or see you again, just something other than the silent nod that he had given Gavin.

Pushing off the door, Connor went to the bed that lay in the corner, slouching down onto it and gazing up at the ceiling. He continued to just lying there for a moment longer before deciding it was probably a good idea for him to power down. His processors had been working overtime since he had woken up and he found that it, undoubtedly, wouldn’t be a good idea for him to overexert them further than he had already.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever for me to upload, Uni assignments and studying for exams took up most of my time.  
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Connor was … agitated. He had woken up to a quiet and empty house, apart from Sumo and don’t get him wrong he liked dogs but being left behind was not a very nice feeling he realised. There wasn’t an awful lot that Connor could do in the house, especially as he still felt like a guest. And looking around the place gave him flashes of memories that were still to corrupt to comprehend properly. 

Sensations and feelings always came with the broken memories and he couldn’t make any sense of them. He was a detective android, even if he acted human and had emotions, feelings, ideas, he was still an android. He was designed for lending assistance on cases, finding clues, figuring out the answers, yet he couldn’t seem to do that with his own mind. 

Sitting in a house he couldn’t quite remember with a dog that could, somehow, understand that he was frustrated, was not something that he was designed for. Irritated, he looked at the mess of the kitchen for something to do, noticing a particular sticky brown spot on the floor and a discarded cup not far away, obviously someone had spilled their beverage. Staring at the dirty patch on the floor, Connor contemplated cleaning it up, reasoning to himself that it would be unlikely for the Lieutenant to do so when he returned, and as such the stain might be there for a while.

With that in mind Connor searched for the cleaning supplies, finding them a lot easier than he initially thought he would, and began cleaning the mess. Sumo watched on as Connor cleaned the floor, eventually doing the whole kitchen. His reasoning was the same, the Lieutenant wasn't likely to do it, so he might as well, as he had nothing else to occupy his time with. It was definitely not because he was bored, and frustrated, and that cleaning might just be a good outlet for that. Which it was.

By the time Connor had finished, the entire kitchen was clean and looking more like a display home than anything that had been live in. Connor then smiled down at Sumo, he had been a good boy, staying out of the kitchen while Connor had been cleaned it.

"And good boys deserve treats, don’t they?" Connor said, petting the dogs head as Sumo let out a happy bark. He sat down obediently, tail wagging excitedly, as Connor went to pull out the bag of dog treats, which was thankfully still in date if only just, to give him one.

Sumo barked happily again as he took his treat over to the loungeroom, to his favourite spot on the floor in the corner. There wasn’t much else that Connor could think to do at that point, so he joined Sumo and sat down on the couch. He idly watched the dog chew his treat slowly before the sound of ringing drew Connor's attention away from the dog and towards the sound. The ringing was coming from a phone that sat unintentionally hidden under a pile of old magazines, the magazines having obviously toppled onto it at some point. 

He picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Connor, that you?" The Lieutenant's voice come through the speakers of the handheld device.

"Yes."

"Good," The man sighed then paused, Connor could just hear his voice mumble something on the line, he was obviously talking to someone else as well, "Good, just checking in. Sorry I didn't leave a note, Kid, was kinda in a rush."

Connor felt as if he was being treated like a child and subconsciously pouted at the thought. He wasn't a child, had never been a child, so why did the Lieutenant treat him like one, call him one. The silence on the phone stretched on for a lengthier time, Connor wasn't sure if the Lieutenant was again talking to someone else at the other end of the phone, like before, or if he was waiting for a reply from Connor, nevertheless Connor remained silent.

"Well, Son, Fowler gave the all clear for you to come in tomorrow, so look forward to that, huh?" The Lieutenant spoke, his voice shaking slightly, which Connor was unsure as to why it would be. "Oh, and I'll probably be home by about 8, alright?"

"Okay," Connor replied before hanging up the phone. He glanced over to the clock and saw that it was now just passed two in the afternoon. What was he going to do for the next 6 hours?

Connor spent the next couple of minutes further cleaning the house then getting bored of that. He listened to the Lieutenant's music collection, which he found that he scarcely enjoyed it as much as he thought he might, apparently jazz music wasn’t his ideal type of music. After finding nothing better to do to reduce his growing boredom he sat down on the couch and turned the television on, Sumo come to lay across his lap and he found he didn’t have the heart to move the dog. So instead he browsed through the available channels until he found one that showed old movies. There was something about them that made him smile, the pain in his chest lessening slightly. It was a lot easier to lose track of time as he continued to watch movie after movie. 

He was so focused on the television, and running his scheduled systems check early, that he hadn't noticed the Lieutenant until he fell into the seat besides Connor. He jumped slightly as the couch dipped to accommodate the man's weight. While he had been unprepared for the sudden shift, Sumo only lifted his head from Connor's lap and looked over at the new addition to the couch before going back to his nap. 

The Lieutenant sighed as he made himself more comfortable, slouching down into the chair and letting his head falling to rest on the back of the couch. He tilted his head to look over at Connor, a tired look on his face. 

"We went to speak to someone today," The Lieutenant spoke, turning back to look at the ceiling and rubbing a hand down his face, "Guy was a fucking nut job."

"Should you really be telling me this, Lieutenant?"

"Son, call me Hank, it'll make me feel better," Hank sighed, it was such a sad and tired sound that the ache in Connor's chest reappeared swiftly. "And yeah, I can tell you, you'll be on this case with Gav and I tomorrow. Just couldn't bring you today."

"Why is that, Lieu- Hank," Connor stuttered over the correct wording.

"'Cause the guy we went to see was a nut job. Fucking anti-android asshole. He's that priest that does a lot of sermon's in the streets, we think he might be connected all the abductions and murders that’s been happening to pro-android people."

Hank stopped to take a deep breath, glancing sideways at Connor before looking back at the ceiling. "We think that your kidnapping and memory loss was probably done by these guys, which means that a lot of the missing android reports we've been getting are probably also related. 'Cause, if they can't remember, how are they meant to return to their friends and families. We got real lucky with you, Connor."

Connor watched as tears formed in Hank's eyes but didn't fall. It hurt Connor to see the man so distressed about him, even if he couldn’t remember anything and he didn't understand why, it still hurt. He looked away from Hank as the ache became almost too much, glancing down at Sumo instead. The dog lay asleep on his lap, drool soaking into Connor's jeans where Sumo's mouth was open. His had fell onto the top of the dog's head, fingers stroking though the fur, it had a surprisingly calming effect on Connor. When he glanced over to Hank again he could see that the man was doing much the same.

"He," Hank said brokenly, coughing to no doubt get rid of the croak of his throat, "This guy, Gordon Penwick, he's crazy. He runs this church called 'The Church of Liberation'." Hank said the name with air quotations. "It really seems more like a cult following than anything else." Hank sighed, breathing in a deep breath before letting it drag out of him. "We need to be extra careful around this guy, you need to be extra careful around this guy" He sat up straighter then, turning to Connor, "I didn't bring you today because I didn't want them to know you were with the police. They've never taken a police 'droid before and I think it might be our way of putting an end to these bastards."

"If I was able to remember properly, the investigation would go a good deal smoother," Connor noted as he frowned down at Sumo, though it wasn’t the dog he was frowning at. His thoughts had been a mess since waking up in the abandoned parking garage and it was irritating him. His thoughts seemed as though they were missing bits here and there, like missing words in a sentence. He could guess what it all meant but it could all turn out to be incorrect too. What could he do to fix that? To fix the missing memories? The corrupted files in his data banks?

"Connor," Hank spoke, pulling Connor from his thoughts, "Doesn’t matter that you don't remember right now. You're a good cop, a great detective, and sure it would help if we had a witness, but right now we could use a great detective on our side more."

Hank placed his hand on Connor's shoulder, squeezing and using it as leverage to get up off the couch. Connor couldn't look Hank in the eye though, he felt as if he was letting Hank down and he felt crappy for it.

"Fowler wants us at work nice and early tomorrow, at the ass crack of fucking dawn for god's sake," Hank said shaking his head and headed for his room, "So I'm gonna head to bed now, see ya in the morning, Son."

With that Connor was left on the couch, contemplating what to do next. He needed to get his memories back already, there was still that one question. How?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to scrap this chapter but I decided to keep it and the angst within XD

Today was the first time Connor would be going to work with Hank – 'Don't call me Lieutenant, kid, it sounds weird coming from you now,' Hank had said after the third time Connor had called him Lieutenant that morning, without meaning to. – Connor was hoping today would be more interesting than what the previous day had been, which felt as if it had crawled passed at snail pace.

Now, though, now they were moving, entering the precinct as if nothing was different. It was though and as Connor moved passed the security he felt vague memories of Gavin come back to him, making his chest tighten. It wasn’t any different from the day before, there was no sound just the images. Images of Gavin smirking over a cup of coffee, saying something to him that he couldn’t hear, and sitting in his chair spinning in circles. Then there was another memory coming, the layout of the precinct, the memory of making coffee for the other officers, mainly Hank, and idly chatting with them, though he couldn’t hear a word of their conversations.

It flowed through him quickly, small flashes of images and information. He couldn’t remember anything of great importance, just small things like how Gavin likes his coffee, how Tina Chen loves to tease anyone and everyone, how Chris Miller had a young baby at home, how Fowler and Hank had been friends for many years now. They were all little things but, somehow, they were important enough to remember.

He was pulled out of his memories by Hank shoving him further into the precinct. Now that Connor was out of his own head he knew where he was going but he let Hank push and pull him until he was pushed down into his chair. There were many little trinkets on his desk; a small bonsai tree, quite a few photos of himself, Gavin, Hank, and Sumo, more hand drawn pictures on sticky notes, and some things that had obviously spilt over from Hank's own desk. The things, the photos, the drawings, they were all niggling at his brain, trying to get him to remember. But he couldn’t, his memories were refusing to come, and all that left him with was the emotions. He had had something and had lost it along with his memories, his stomach was tight, his chest was aching, and everything just seemed to make the pain so much worse.

"Connor," Hank called from his desk, "You alright?"

"I'm fine Lieutenant," Connor said distractedly as he opened his console. Hank leaned up and peered over the desk at him, raising an eyebrow in question when Hank finally got his attention. "Sorry. Hank."

"That's better," He said smiling down at Connor before getting back to work.

Connor began to familiarise himself with the cases content. Reading through the reports and, at Hank's request, going through the many missing persons files and cross referencing them to check that they were not also linked to the murders or kidnappings or his own case in some capacity. It was a lot of work to do or would have been for any human police officer. As Connor read through the progress report for their case he could see that initially they had worked separately. Connor and Hank had been working on the murders, while Gavin had been working on the kidnapping. It wasn't until the day after he'd been taken that the men seemed to have come across the connections within the two cases. Connor was quite proud of Hank and Gavin, having been able to see the connections and getting so much work done while he was gone. 

He was about to scan through the cases again, to ensure that he had not missed anything, when he heard a yawn coming from Hank's desk. He looked over to the man and saw the way he had slumped, tired and slowing down as he went through his own case files again. 

Without prompt Connor stood and made his way to the breakroom to make Hank a coffee. He ended up with two coffees without realising and had gone over to Gavin's desk. He stood in front of Gavin's desk, frozen. He looked down at his hands, at the two coffees that he held, he hadn't even realised that he'd made Gavin a coffee until that moment. 

When he looked back up he saw that Gavin was watching him with a careful look in his eyes. Connor held out the cup that he instinctively knew must have been for Gavin and waited for the man to take it.

But Gavin didn't take it, he looked at it then up at Connor and looked away. He turned in his desk chair and stood, heading down the walkway towards the breakroom. Connor could only watch Gavin as he kept walking, finally turning into the men's bathroom and hurrying through the door. Connor found himself unsure or what to do, standing there holding two coffees in his hands until Hank called him back over, drawing him out of his frozen position.

"What was that about?" Hank asked accepting his coffee when Connor offered it. The sting that had been building up behind his eyes and the tightness in his chest lessened when Hank accepted the coffee.

"I …" Connor stuttered, unable to answer properly as he wasn’t sure himself as to what had just happened. Connor had vague memories of making Gavin a coffee, or several, and it didn't make sense to him that Gavin would refuse this one. "He went to the bathroom."

Hank frowned before downing the coffee in one go and placing the now empty cup on his desk. He got up from his seat as Connor sat down at his own, placing the full coffee on his desk – he would dispose of it later – and about to get back to work. He couldn't help but watch as Hank went in the same direction as Gavin had. It was odd, but he knew not to comment on it as humans were weird about their bathroom habits.

It wasn’t long before Hank was making his way back to his desk. He gave Connor a weird, sad look before glancing at the cold coffee cup that sat on Connor's desk and sitting down, getting back to his work.

Connor wasn’t sure what that particular look meant and contemplated it as he glanced down at the cold coffee. He was still unsure why he had made the extra cup, why he'd gone to Gavin's desk first, why Gavin had avoided him. The last one consumed his thoughts the most though. What had he done that was bad enough for Gavin to avoid him? He knew it was avoidance when Gavin had left his desk. 

As he thought about it further he watched as Gavin finally made his way back to his desk. Connor could see the obvious signs of distress on Gavin's face, blotchy faced and red-rimmed eyes, even as he held his head down so no one would notice as easily. But Connor did, and he knew that it was due to himself that Gavin was feeling distressed. 

Connor moved to get out of his chair, planning to at least apologise for whatever he had done wrong, when Hank made his way around Connor's desk. "Leave him be, Son," Hank said as he pulled Connor out of his chair and quickly passed Gavin's desk. Connor was about to open his mouth as they passed but Hank only tugged and pulled his arm, hurrying him down the hall and out the door. "Just leave him be." Hank sighed as they exited the building, "He's hurting too."

He would question Hank if not for the look that Hank gave him at that moment. It was a sad and tired look, so Connor kept silent. He didn't want to cause any more pain than he had already.

The following week was much the same. Connor would remember bits and pieces, images and feelings, but they were all distant somehow. Gavin continued to ignore him, going to any scene before Hank and Connor and leaving immediately when they did arrive. Connor was aware that he would still talk to Hank about the case but other than that it seemed as if they were on two separate sides. 

The guilt of not being able to remember properly was starting to really weigh down heavily on Connor, there wasn't anything he could do. Yet, if he could remember, even just a small bit of information, then many of the victims they saw, almost daily now, wouldn't be victims at all. He knew he would be able to prevent all the tragedies he had seen that week. If only he could remember.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week and a half since he'd been back at the precinct, Gavin had continued to ignore him, and it was starting to grate on Connor's nerves. Connor understood that he made Gavin uncomfortable, but there was work to be done and without interaction they would not be able to close their case. And Connor felt like he needed to close this one, for his own sake as well as everyone else's.

It wasn’t until later that Connor found reports the station had received, of suspicious persons and repeated gunfire near an old abandoned school building, that were weeks old. It wasn't necessarily something that the three of them would look into, considering the nature of their case, but Connor felt as if something was off about these reports, the building itself, and why there would be possible gunshots heard. There was also something about the location that pulled at his memories and he chose to bring it up with Hank the day prior.

The report stated that the first responding police officers had come back after a thorough search of the place, there had been no evidence of people living on location and the shell casings that had been found had to have been a few days old, judging by the thin layer of dust that had settled on top of them. They did however find evidence of the occult, though there had only been a small amount of it, it had been enough for that Connor.

At some point Hank must have notified Gavin, Connor wasn’t sure when he had and was irritated that he had been left out of the conversation. The next day had Hank making his rounds, getting people ready to check the site out with them and informing Captain Fowler on what was happening. It only took about half an hour but in that time Gavin had already left. Alone. By himself. With absolutely no back up. 

Connor was fuming, the man was acting recklessly just so that he could avoid him. Sure, Connor had been hurt initially but now he was just angry. Gavin was sure to get himself hurt, or worse, and it would eventually screw with solving their case.

This also meant that Gavin was the first on scene, and all alone, when he stumbled upon a group of people that were gathered around an incapacitated android. The rest of the team had just arrived when the first shot rang out and Connor ran through the corridors just in time to see Gavin draw his gun, many of the culprits already aiming their own guns at Gavin or in the process of drawing theirs out to start firing.

"Gavin!" Connor shouted, a loud bang sounding as the culprits started to fire at them. He pulled the man out of the way of the barrage of bullets that were raining down on them. He heard as one of the shots caused Gavin to hiss out a breath, but Connor could only continue to pull him along, too focused on getting them into the relative safety of a side room. As they stopped, shutting the door behind them, Connor turned to Gavin only now noticing the blood running down Gavin's right arm. Gavin had been shot, he'd been shot, and Connor wasn’t fast enough to prevent it, he never fast enough. 

"Do you fucking like being shot at!?" Connor shouted, his anger, guilt, and loneliness, causing him to finally lash out, _"This is the third god damn time Gavin!"_

"What?" Gavin asked with a stunned look on his face, which could have been for a number of different reasons.

" _Three times Gavin,_ three fucking times," Connor spoke, his voice slowly dying in his throat. He slumped forward into Gavin's shoulder, the energy, strangely, draining out of his limbs and preventing him from moving away.

"Hey, you okay?" Gavin whispered softly in Connor's ear, running his left hand through Connor's hair, which was a familiar gesture. Connor was confused for a moment, this was very different to how Gavin had been treating him recently, but the soft gesture eased the ache in Connor's chest nevertheless. The aching had finally ceased, if only to be replaced by worry. Connor sighed as he pulled himself away yet only far enough to inspect Gavin's wound. It wasn’t as bad as he had initially thought, the bullet having only grazed the side his arm, the blood lazily running down.

"I should be asking you that," Connor said as he slumped onto the floor, his legs no longer willing to hold him up as a brief sense of relief flooded his systems. Gavin followed him down, pulling him over and tucking Connor's head under his chin. Connor was more than grateful for the gesture, falling onto Gavin's chest without a care and enjoying his warmth. He put his hand other the wound to apply pressure, slowing the bleeding down and causing Gavin to wince. 

He could feel the flow of the blood under his hand, it felt scarily familiar and when he checked his memory banks to see why he realised that he remembered. There wasn’t any abrupt memory flood like he'd expected, he just knew now that he had his memories back. He remembered the last time this happened, there was so much more blood that time, he remembered the sound of the gun shot, so similar in sound to only moments ago. So similar to what happened two weeks ago. The memories of his abduction, the memories of the gun shot, the memories of almost losing Gavin. it caused him to go rigid in Gavin's arms, his grip on Gavin's wound subconsciously tightening. 

He wasn’t aware that his audio processor had shut down. He was lost in his memories, oblivious to what was happening around him. he couldn’t hear Gavin's shout of pain, or the bullets that were being exchanged between the group of murderers and the police. He was unaware of Hank and Gavin calling out his name trying to bring him back, shaking him in an attempt at getting his attention. Despite all of that he could only see the foggy images of the people that had abducted him. He could only feel the aftershocks from their tasers. He could only hear the questions and threats they spat at him. He could only fell the panic that Gavin was… he was…

Yet Gavin was alive, Gavin was right in front of him, staring at him, shaking him, shouting his name and trying to bring him back to the present. That was what drew him from his memories, he could feel the flood of tears that had been streaming down his face, but he didn’t care. Gavin was alive. 

Connor loosened his grip on Gavin's wound, wincing himself as he felt the increased amount of blood that he had on his hand now. "I'm sorry," his voice shaking as he spoke.

Gavin let out a relieved sigh before pulling Connor back into a hug, "I'm sorry too," He said into Connor's hair. "For being a dick to you lately."

Connor couldn’t help the small snort of laughter that escaped him, "You're always a dick."

"Yeah, but ya love me." Gavin said smiling down into Connor's hair.

"I don't know why I love you," Connor sighed, "but I do."

Gavin snorted and pulled Connor into a tighter hug. For the first time in two weeks he finally felt somewhat settled. As long as he kept his mind on Gavin the other memories wouldn’t flood him, or so he hoped. Because his mind was elsewhere he hadn’t noticed that the sound of gunfire had stopped, or that Hank was currently standing near them just off to the side. It wasn’t until Gavin withdrew from their hug, which Connor really didn’t want to do, and pull them both up that he finally noticed that they weren’t alone.

Connor couldn’t stop the blush from spreading across his cheeks. Hank was in the room as well, he was facing towards the door with his back to them. Gavin drew his attention as he linked their fingers together. Connor couldn’t help but smile over at Gavin, drawing close to give him a quick kiss on the lips. Which he will never admit, even to himself, just how much he loved kissing Gavin.

"The lovebirds all good now?" Hank said before turning around. He had a large smirk on his face and Connor knew it was likely due to his and Gavin's matching blushed faces as they avoided each other's gaze. "Good to see that you got your memories back, Connor. Though I think I preferred you without the potty mouth."

"I agree. Though the words I have learnt are directly influenced by my surrounding environment, Hank." Connor stated simply, "On occasion it can be rather challenging to avoid using such … choice words. Especially when the two people I am around most use such words in almost every second sentence."

A burst of laughter rang out as both Gavin and Hank broke down into fits. Connor could only smile at the two, they were his family and he would do anything for them. The thought only strengthened his resolve, he needed to close this case so that neither of them would get hurt again. Connor knew that it was only a matter of time before the culprits turned to much more drastic measures.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long with this one.  
> I was lucky enough this week for my computer to die on me - rewriting chapters sucks- and I have to write it all on my little cheap ass tablet... Oh and exams were a thing too which sucked, considering all my freaking courses are online or on my computer. 
> 
> Moral of the story ... Learn to back up your shit!   
> Hope you enjoy this chapter and the next one should be out soon :)

After what had happened at the old abandoned school, Gavin stuck very closely to Connor's side. He was concerned about the android because Connor was acting off and Gavin could easily understand why. Connor had obviously remembered what had happened with whomever had abducted him and those memories were probably torturing him. Gavin wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know what had happened to Connor or not. On the one hand he wanted to know so that when he caught the bastards he'd be able to give them a price of his mind, screw any of the consequences from doing so. But then on the other hand he really didn't want to know and was ninety percent sure Connor wouldn't tell him anyway.

Gavin pulled his hands out of his pocket, a small post-it note cartoon he had made for Connor slipping out and falling to the floor without his notice. He sat down on a chair in the room across from the interigation room, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the chair and staring blankly forward.

Their current suspects were sitting in the holding cells, well two out of the five were. One had been sent to the hospital from injuries they'd gotten when fighting the police and two had been shot down at the scene when they'd fired back. Gavin had no sympathy for these people, they were definitely from the group that had taken Connor and Gavin only wished they had suffered more for what they'd done.

In the interigation room at the moment was the Android victim. It was an PL600 series. Same model as that one that always followed Markus around like a puppy, if Gavin was remembering correctly. It sat stiffly in its chair by the table, simply staring forward. They had asked the android about what had happened, what its name was, if it was okay, but they only received silence. From what they could tell it wasn't broken and appeared to still have its memories. However, it refused to talk to anyone. 

This was the kind of problem were they could have used Connor's expertise. Gavin didn't want it though. Connor had been through enough, he didn't need the added stress from another android on top of what he was currently dealing with. No, Gavin was going to do this himself, he just had to imagine this android as Connor and think of how he'd get Connor to open up to him.

With that in mind Gavin stood from his chair and made his way over to the table the android sat behind. He didn't want to be imposing so he crouched next to the androids chair and braced a hand on the table. It seemed to be effective in getting the android to focus on him instead of the wall in front of itself and Gavin took that as his cue to begin speaking.

"I know you might be scared," Gavin spoke softly, "But I wanted to ask if there was anyone we could call for you?"

Gavin watched as some of the visible tension in the androids shoulders disappated. It was a good sign and the android seemed more relaxed which Gavin wanted to keep that way. He didn't press the android further, just waited for it to speak. Though his legs were starting to burn something fierce after a few minutes in his crouched position, it didn't take much longer after that for the android to finally speak.

"Lauren," it said quietly looking at its hands before turning back to face Gavin with a much more determined look. "Lauren Dunstall, s-she's... She's my family."

Gavin smiled reassuringly at the android, he was far from predgetous when it came to androids calling humans family. And sure there were some dickhead around still that thought smilliarly to the Church of Liberation - read 'Cult' - they we're currently trying to bring down but he was very far from one of them. Even if it had taken him a while to call one family himself.

"If you know her number I can give her a call," Gavin spoke as he rose up from his crouch, groaning silently at his sore muscles, "if not I can look it up."

Gavin pulled some paper and a pen out of his pocket as he finished talking. The android reached for it and Gavin handed it over easily, if they could contact this Lauren person then maybe the android would be more comfortable in talking during a proper interigation. Once the android handed back the pen and paper Gavin made his way to the door, stopping just before exiting.

"I'll check it out and come back in a minute, alright?" He said, waiting for the android to answer with a nod. He smiled back before finally exiting the room.

Sighing deeply he made his way other to his desk and was about to call the number when Chris interrupted him. Chris pulled the paper from his hand which earned him a glare from Gavin, one that he was more than a littleused to by now and was easy to ignored, and pulled the phone out of Gavin's other hand.

"Hank needs some help in the bathroom," Chris said, with an unusually cautious tone.

Gavin was about to make a snide comment when he took in the seriousness on Chris' face. He glanced over to Hank and Connor's desk and saw that neither of them were present. Which meant that it was more than likely that something was wrong with Connor than Hank, and Hank wasn't able to deal with it alone.

Without another word Gavin left Chris to call the number. Gavin had more important things he was needed for. As he got close to the bathroom he could hear the whispers of Hank's voice, intelligible through the door.

Once through the door Gavin could see that Connor had barricaded himself in one of the stalls and it was obviously not for him to use. Gavin silently made his way over as he could now make out Hank's words. They were all questions; are you okay? Do you need anything? When are you planning on leaving the bathroom? What's wrong?

Gavin slapped his hand down hard on Hank's shoulder, causing the man to startle. Hank was good at many things but comforting someone, that was obviously having some mental issues, really wasn't one of his specialities. 

"I got it Hank," Gavin said in his usually gruff voice, Hank didn't need the comfort Connor did. "Why don't you check in with Chris about the case."

Hank huffed before eyeing Gavin carefully, obviously still judging him even with all they've been though. Gavin was fine with it, Connor was Hank adopted son and his son was in a bad place. He knew that Hank still saw him as he was before, the cocky little shit that though he could easily take on the world alone.

"Look after him will ya," Hank said as he made his way out of the bathroom. 

Gavin was glad when he was finally alone, he listened closely for any sound from Connor but couldn't pick anything up. He did, however, know what stall he was in as it was the only one closed. He pushed at the door with no real hope that it would move and was pleasently surprised that it wasn't locked.

He saw Connor sitting unnaturally still ontop of the toilet seat, using it as if it were just a chair. Gavin placed his hand gently on Connor's shoulder and knew it was a bad idea as soon as he'd done it. Connor immediately seemed to come back to life, grabbing at Gavin's wrist and twisting it sharply off his shoulder. Gavin only just held back the shout of pain the move had cause, he could tell that his wrist was more than likely broken but if he was lucky it would just be badly sprained.

Gavin looked into Connor's eyes, they seemed glazed over and Gavin just knew. Connor was stuck in the memories of that time.

~~~

Stealing Connor's memories wasn’t the only thing his abductors had done to him, he could remember now, they had had him for two days. Which meant two days of horror for Connor, two days he wanted to erase from his memory even after what had happened during the last two weeks due to missing memories.

They had spent those days interrogating him, they knew his limitations, how much he could take, both physically and mentally, and it had been torture. But he knew then that he would never submit to them, he would not tell them what they wanted to know. He was going to protect his own, his family, and his love. He remembered that they had not know he was an RK800 model, or that he was an android detective. He remembered how they thought he was just 'some custom android, owned by a pervert'. They had been talking about Gavin and he had had to bite his tongue to make sure he didn't say anything incriminating. He was determined to not let anything slip but he had really wanted to tell them that Gavin wasn't a pervert, well wasn’t much of a pervert, and that they were all going to jail for what they had been doing.

**STRESS LEVELS: 66%**

It was always at that point that he'd remembered Gavin's lifeless body as they'd pulled Connor away, unable to move but unfortunately still able to see all that was happening. He had only just stopped himself from crying, _Gavin was fine, I'm sure of it, he… he wa- wasn't be dead,_ Connor thought to himself as he tried to pull himself together before the bastards shocked him with some kind of cattle prod, again. It only came to him later that he should have checked Gavin's heart beat before they had taken him, but the anxiety that overtook him at that moment didn't allow for rational thought.

**STRESS LEVELS: 78%**

A hand falling into his shoulder made him jump and he unconsciously grabbed at the it to pull it off. He could feel his thirium pump regulator pumping excessively and could only sit frozen as he awaited for it to calm down. He continued to sit there silently as his mind slowly let go of the memory, he forgot entirely about the hand he held in a near crushing grip in his hand. He just needed to get out, he needed to calm himself down and get out of his own mind, leave the memories behind, hink of something else.

Connor couldn't think of how he would be able to do just that until he noticed Gavin crouched down before him, a look of concern covering his face. Connor forced himself to focus on Gavin's face, on the beat of his heart, on the way his chest moved with every breath. It was okay. He could physically see that Gavin was okay, everything would be okay. 

**STRESS LEVELS: 37%**

And eventually, maybe even Connor would be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

Once Connor had noticed Gavin's broken -"it's just a sprain Connor, stop freaking out."- wrist, he had attempted to keep the detective at a distance. However, Gavin obviously wasn't having any of that as he continued to stalk after Connor until the android relented, which happened only 3 hours after Gavin got Tina to wrap his hand up. She was surprisingly good at giving first aid and Gavin had been thankful that it was nothing serious.

It didn't stop Connor from being extra cautious around Gavin, especially when it came to touch. Connor was still scared of hurting Gavin again, intentionally or unintentionally, he never wanted to be the cause of Gavin's pain again. Avoiding and thinking of Gavin did however allow Connor to focus on something else, instead of the unnerving memories that had been plaguing him since his memories returned. 

His focus remained until he had to go back home with Hank. Connor stood stiffly at his desk, he didn't want to leave but Gavin was already making his way out of the precinct and Connor really just wanted to follow him like a lost puppy. He wasn't sure if he would be allowed to follow or not though. So much had happened in the last two days and so much of it was Connor's fault. Or well, that was whathe thought, anyway.

"Com' on, Connor," Hank called from the other side of the precinct. Connor hadn't noticed that the man was already almost all the way outside the precinct. 

"Coming, Hank." 

Connor walked along after Hank, he couldn't bring himself to lift his gaze up from his feet, even as they reached the car. Connor pulled on the handle for the passenger side but the door remained closed. Only then did Connor draw his confused gaze up and to see Gavin already sitting in he passenger seat, a smirk plastered across his face. Connor couldn't help the small smile that crossed his own face, shaking his head at the man and pulling the back door open.

"You think I'm gonna leave your side ever again?" Gavin asked as soon as Connor had his seat belt clipped. "Do you really have your memories back?" Gavin playfully questioned.

Connor couldn't help but drop his gaze to Gavin's sprained wrist though, even if Gavin waved it off as nothing it wasn't nothing for him. "I know I've never hurt you like this before, unintentionally."

"Yeah, well, I've had worst than this, Con." Gavin twisted more to see Connor's face. Gavin reached out his hand, not realising it was his injured one, and cupped the side of Connor's face. Forcing him to look at Gavin in the eyes. "You can't get rid me off that easily. I love you, dipshit."

Connor could feel the blush spreading across his face and without a second thought he leaned forward and kissed Gavin quickly. 

"I love you too, Gavin."

Minutes passed as if they were seconds but they couldn't turn away from each other. Connor gazed at every detail of Gavin's face, the scars, the occasional freckle, the light dusting of pink on his checks. He was gorgeous in Connor's eyes and he couldn't, wouldn't, take his eyes off of Gavin's. The light blue colouring of them drew Connor in and he didn't realise he'd been staring until a sound interrupted.

Hank coughed loudly and obnoxiously, breaking the love sick stare that Connor and Gavin had been trapped in. Connor had enough humility to know they were both being overly sentimental, but it didn't faze him. They had gone two weeks without any closeness, they were allowed to have it now Connor figured.

It didn't stop the blush that formed on both their faces though, but it did earn them a chuckle from Hank. The sound lightened the tightness Connor hadn't realise was in his chest. He'd been fighting his memories for the better part of two days now, whereas he should have been focusing on the present, not the past.

"You guys gonna sit in my car all night? Or are we all gonna head inside?" Hank said teasingly. Connor hadn't noticed until then, but they were indeed outside Hank's house parked in the drive way.

"Yeah, yeah, we're movin'," Gavin grumbled as he turned and exited the car. Connor reached for his own door handle and once out of the car he took Gavin's waiting hand in his own. Apparently he wasn't the only one that had missed the closeness they had had before. 

They followed Hank into the house, greeting Sumo as they passed him, and moved to the kitchen. Connor led Gavin to a chair and forced him to sit down. He grumbled a small protest but Connor quickly stopped it from escalating further by wrapping his arms around Gavin from behind, placing his head on Gavin shoulder. Gavin quickly quieted down and Connor could see the red blush that crossed over his face from ear to ear. He could also see the scars that graced Gavin's face closer now and kissed one that was by Gavin's ear. He would eventually ask Gavin about it but not right now. Right now he needed to make his family some dinner.

Only after Gavin and Hank had finished their food, and Connor had washed the dishes, was Connor able to ask about the android from earlier and the investigation as a whole. He had a bit of difficulty distancing himself from the case, especially considering he was a victim as well, but he was determined to do this. He needed the closure as much as he needed the case closed and the culprits punished.

"Were you able to get much from the PL600 android?"Connor asked when they were all seated at the kitchen table. 

Hank and Gavin exchanged looks before turning to Connor. He could understand their uncertainty, he had been having a pretty bad time with what he could remember but he needed to finish this case before he could forget his own nightmares.

"I am fine at the moment, I promise," Connor extended his hand to Gavin and Gavin took it in his own without hesitation, even after what had happened earlier. Connor couldn't help but cringe a little at what he'd done but he couldn't change that now. Gavin shook the hand he was holding to get Connor to look up, he hadn't even realised he was staring at their linked fingers until then, Gavin gave Connor a smirk before lightly squeezing his fingers.

Connor watched as Gavin turned to Hank with a small nod of his head then focused back on Connor. His expression softening.

"The androids name was Charlie, he was taken while he was out getting groceries alone. Lauren, his human sister, said she had called him when he wasn't back after two hours. It went to missing persons but they really had nothing to go on." Hank sighed deeply as he leaned heavily on the table, "He'd been gone almost two days at that point and by the looks of it they were about to move him to where they do the memory wipe. He was really grateful that we got there when we did."

"He didn't have much more to add after that, other than what they had done to him." Gavin added quickly, "Our perps didn't say much either but they did all have those Church of Liberation badges, like the one we found on Elmer. The ones that were shot down gave us a lot more information than the live ones did."

"Yeah," Hank continued for Gavin, "one actually had a hand written note on him. Poor thing was just a kid, a little sick in the head but a kid nonetheless."

Gavin reached his spare hand over and squeezed Hank's shoulder in comfort. It didn't do much but some tension seemed to bleed out of the man.

"Imma hit the hay," Hank said, pushing out of his chair. "Both of you should head to bed too, we'll talk more tomorrow."

Connor smiled and nodded to Hank, he knew there wasn't anything they could do right now so it was probably best to rest. He could tell his systems definitely needed it after his rollercoaster of emotions and the memories that had overcome him today.

He pulled Gavin along with him towards his bedroom and once inside he insisted on checking Gavin wrist properly. He was glad when his scans came back that it was only a small fracture, nothing that would need further medical attention.

"You know," Gavin mused as he pulled his jacket and hoodie off, leaving his shirt to ride up his torso, " I always found it weird that you could do that."

"That I can check on your organs and skeletal structure?" Connor asked as he watched Gavin change clothes. Connor couldn't help that his eyes wondered over Gavin's figure, which was currently only in underwear.

"Yeah," Gavin moved back towards Connor, leaning into his personal space and making Connor fall backwards into the wall behind him, "you can see all that but not through clothes?" Gavin arched an eyebrow in question, a smirk gracing his lips.

Connor couldn't help it when he brought his hand up to grab the back of Gavin's neck, pulling Gavin to meet his lips in a searing kiss. The heat from it was enough to overwhelm Connor and when he broke the kiss Gavin's face was flushed. It was Connor's turn to smirk now.

"Luckily," he said as he trailed his fingers over Gavin's torso, "I don't have that ability," Connor leaned in again to whisper against Gavin's lips, "or I'd never get any work done when you're around."

Gavin let out a shaky breath and Connor took the chance to kiss him again. Every kiss was like a shock to Connor's systems, in a good way, and he couldn't get over the feel and taste of Gavin on his tongue. Connor pulled back after a few moments and took the shirt Gavin had been holding out of his hand. Connor pulled the shirt over Gavin's head and laughed when Gavin started to wiggle his arms free.

"Dick," Gaven said once his arms were free. He fisted the front of Connor's shirt and yanked him into another kiss that was over too quick, in Connor opinion. Then Gavin was shoving him back into the wall and turning away. It gave Connor a nice view but it didn't last long as Gavin got under the covers on the bed and was smirking knowingly up at him.

"Gonna join me, Con?" Gavin said with fake innocence.

Connor could stop from smiling as he changed out of his own clothes and climbing into the bed behind Gavin. He pulled the man to his chest and pressed his face into the back of Gavin's head. He heard Gavin laugh lightly and Connor was yet again glad that he was able to have this, to have Gavin, this room, his emotions, and his feelings of love. 

He knew it wasn't going to be easy getting through what he'd been through but with Gavin and Hank's help he knew he would be fine. Connor was going to find the culprits and they were going to get what was coming to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After so much angst I'm finally giving you guys some fluff(or what I think is fluff anyway). Just a reminder but Connor is still not okay, he won't be for a while but I'm not planning on writing all of that, but Gavin is helping so there's that XD
> 
> If I've planned it right, next chapter should be the last. So look forward to that and enjoy :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may have taken me too many months to finish this but here it is.
> 
> Sorry about taking so long, shit happened and it sucked. But I am thankful for everyone who waited for this. 
> 
> There is one more instalment to this series, I haven't started writing too much of it yet but I am in a much better mindset for it now so hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.
> 
> Enjoy XD

Connor found the fact that it had taken the forensic lab a whole week to get back to them about the data from the bodies very curious. Considering Connor, himself, could have analysed it almost instantly. But Fowler refused to let him get that far into the investigation, considering his involvement. It was a weird sight for Connor, considering everyone was acting so carefully around him. Well, everyone except Gavin, but Connor wasn't sure if that made him proud of Gavin or frustrated because of the man's stubbornness. 

Twice that week Connor had a breakdown and Gavin, being the idiot that would never learn his lesson the first time, had touched him again. The first time that week had ended with Gavin gaining a split lip. - Which Connor had licked clean afterward, at Gavin's request of course - The second time had ended, thankfully, with only a bruise in the shape of Connor's hand where he had gripped Gavin's bicep too tightly. 

Overall he had been doing pretty well, all things considered, yet that didn't mean it was any less frustrating that everyone was so cautious. No one wanted to trigger Connor, a kind thought, but he knew exactly what would trigger him and he foubd that they were easy enough to avoid, definitly not anything someone at the precinct could cause by talking to him. It was only a few certain things that Connor avoided. A room with absolutely nothing in it. The sudden snapping sound of electricity. Being left alone. Or, Gavin leaving a room without him. - Which only happened once and Gavin had noticed immediately -

Due to this Connor was not surprised when the results came back and no one would tell him about it. They wouldn't even tell Gavin, as the whole precinct knew that he'd consult with Connor immediately. Which, considering it was their case, made sense.

So, Connor watched as Gavin had apparently had enough of being ignored and not being able to close his own case. He stalked over to Hank's desk, shoulders back, snarl on his face as he glanced down at his lieutenant. Hank didn't flinch but Connor could hear the slight elavationt of his his heart rate as he perpared itself for a confrontation.

"What. The. Fuck." Gavin said in an eerily even voice. "I know you have the results," he slowly moved to place his hands flat on Hank's desk, leaning ever so slightly forward. "So, why haven't I seen them yet?"

Hank stood his ground for all of a minute before his eyes briefly fell over Connor's face. Gavin, of course, noticed the movement and caused him to finally snap.

"God fucking _damn it,_ Hank." Gavin shouted, causing everyone in the precinct to turn in their direction, however Gavin continued without care of the audience he had gathered. "Connor is dealing, but you're not helping by keeping him away from this! That just makes it ten times worse and you know that, Hank. We _both_ know that."

Connor stood and pulled Gavin's hand into his own, squeezing lightly in reassurance. Connor had read the police report on what Gavin's father had done, but Gavin hadn't talked about it with him yet. He wasn't avoiding it, he was waiting and Connor realised then that Gavin was giving him the same courtesy.

Hank let out a defeated sigh before straightening in his chair. "I hate to admit that you're right, Gavin, but you are." Hank stood from his chair and headed over to the evidence room. "Com' on then."

In the evidence room Hank logged in and proceeded to filter through his files.

"You really should change your password, Hank," Connor said as he came up beside Hank, Gavin's hand still in his own.

"What are you talking about, my password is perfect." Hank snorted as he continued to search around for what he wanted.

"Hank, I guessed it first go when I came down here before, and I know for a fact that you have yet to change it."

Hank side-eyed Connor before turning fully to face him, a questioning eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. "And how do you know this?"

Connor blushed and turned away from Hank's gaze. He might have been coming down here to analyse the cases he'd been on before his memories came back. Even forgetting almost everything about Hank, Connor found it easy to predict what Hank's password would be, again. Hank was a surprisingly predictable person.

"Whatever." Hank grumbled before going back to the computer.

"What was his password?" Gavin whispered in Connor's ear. Connor usually wasn't one for giving information like that away but Hank really needed to change it anyway. _And maybe this will get him to,_ Connor thought.

" 'fuckingpassword'," Connor said, loud enough for Hank to hear. He chuckled when he heard more grumbling coming from the man.

"Oh, god," Gavin groaned but there was a smile spread across his face as he spoke. "I'm gonna need to change mine too, then."

Connor should have known, of course Gavin had the same password. He shook his head at Gavin, smiling the whole time and turned back to Hank when the man coughed to get get their attention again.

"The guys at the lab found something interesting," Hank said as he brought up the file. 

Photos of the two dead people were visible for a brief moment before Hank was swiping them out of the way. In its place were two toxicology reports and reports for cause of death. It was obvious how they'd died, being shot down and all, but the toxicology report caught Connor's eye. He dragged the file across the screen so that it was closer to himself and began to read as Hank continued to speak.

"Turns out these kids were drugged. Some kind of psycedelic, the poor bastards." Hank rubbed furiously at his face as Connor went though the second file. "These kids probably didn't even know they had been taking it. And by the amounts they found in their systems they must've been taking it for a while."

"Fuck," Gavin pushed closer to Connor to view the files properly. Connor stepped back once he finished and let Gavin have his space. "That fuck is _drugging_ people!"

"Looks like it," Hank said as he slumped over the computer screen, reading over the files again.

Connor thought for a moment, he wasn't a hundred percent sure who they were talking about. However, there was one particular ... memory of his time ...away... that drew Connor's attention. It was of a man that didn't seem to fit, one that had appeared to be more like a leader than just another goon. One that wore something that Connor had noticed, could remember. Something that stood out and made their position quite obvious.

"Are we talking about the priest?" Connor asked as he glanced back at the reports.

He was met with an eerie silence and glanced up to see the confusion on Gavin's face and the pain and sadness on Hank's. They hadn't told him yet, which explained the reason for their expressions. But it couldn't be kept from Connor, he had suffered enough to then be left behind.

Hank only nodded as an answer and turned back to the files, opening up a seperate one from before. Gavin huffed angrily beside Connor but he didn't question why. There were more important things to focus on.

"Yet it does not look like we have enough evidence of his involvement to hold him accountable." Connor stated as he browsed the files he hadn't seen before. "Correct?"

There was a surprising amount of information that Hank appeared to be withholding from him, yet Connor could easily understand Hank's reasoning. Even still, he didn't notice as his grip on the edge of the console tightened.

He heard the cracking sound of the console before he felt Gavin's arms wrap around his waist, pulling gently at Connor's fingers to remove them from their grip. Connor inhaled slowly, a breath he didn't necessarily need, and turned slightly to face Gavin. Gavin gave him a small reasuring smile and placed his head on Connor's shoulder. A reassuring weigh for Connor.

"We'll find something on that bastard," Gavin stated into Connor's ear. "Why don't you put in a report of what you remember, I know it'll be hard but it might help."

Connor thought on it for a moment, knowing what Gavin said had multiple meanings, before sighing, "One report or eye witness is not going to be enough, especially when it involves memory alteration, but if you think it will help I'll do it."

"We might not be able to get Penwick for a while but we can get his followers. Most have priors and we can get a watch on most of them. If we can thin them down then we'll be able to get Penwick, eventually." Hank said, placing a hand on Connor's other shoulder and squeezing lightly. "It's not over yet, but it's gonna be, don't worry."

Connor looked over at Hank, a strained smile on his face. He nodded at Hank before turning around, displacing Gavin as he moved, and began to leave the room. He had read everything that he needed. It was only a matter of time before they caught those responsible, and Connor was determined to start dwindling down their forces as soon as he could.

He stopped just inside the door frame, gripping it slightly too hard - he would need to come back later to fix the dent he was making -. He turned slowly towards the two men, still standing by the console, and spoke a quiet 'thanks' as he turned to leave the room quickly. It would take some time to come to terms with all that had happened, this case was a hard one, but he wasn't alone and he knew that more now than ever before.


End file.
